Where is everybody?

Wow, has it really been a year since I posted a blog entry? I was afraid that might happen when I started the blog in the first place. A TON has happened since my last post, but instead of trying to catch you up in one fell swoop, I want to just act like I never missed a beat and continue on with blogging and maybe, just maybe, I'll fill in some blanks along the way, so here I go again...

Hello, my name is Rick and I am a recovering legalist. That's right, from a very strict "holiness" upbringing to being awed by shock-jock preachers with a rock-star mentality early in my ministry, I used to be quite the rigid militant fundamentalist. I am glad to say that by God's grace (how ironic), I have come a long way. I only say that to set up my perspective on a specific issue...church attendance. There is certainly a wide range of opinions regarding church attendance, from "I can worship the Lord in my home just as good as in church" to the proverbial "drug" problem. You know, that's the problem characterized by being drug to church every time the doors were open.

I am not here to discuss the nuances of what "the church" is. My folks hear me regularly say, "The church is a body, not a building. It is people, not a place." Nevertheless, the scripture is full of references to assembly and corporate worship. I am not saying that  there is only one place, a sanctuary, to worship, nor am I saying that there is only one time, 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Sunday and 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, to worship. What I am saying, rather asking, is why do people not attend church as they once did?

I will be hitting this topic for a little while because there is no way to hold you here indefinitely to read the longest blog ever, but I want to encourage you and others to get back into church. Not as a required religious exercise. Not because I believe God takes attendance every service looking for the naughty and the nice. Not because I think your salvation depends upon "Perfect Attendance". No, but there are lots of legitimate, good reasons to get yourself together and get yourself down to church as often as you are able.

Here is the first reason. In the life of the believer, it would seem, that the opportunity to meet publicly and corporately with others of God's people is a source of happiness, or more specifically...

Psa 122:1  A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

Glad = śâmach
Pronounced saw-makh'
A primitive root; probably to brighten up, that is, (figuratively) be (causatively make) blithe or gleesome: - cheer up, be (make) glad, (have make) joy (-ful), be (make) merry, (cause to, make to) rejoice, X very.

Do you see that? Going to church made David joyful and merry, and what's more, it was multiplied times "VERY". I wonder if today's Christians are the least joyful in history (personal generic commentary) because they don't frequent the assembly of the only people on this earth that have the MOST important things in common with them, people who are theoretically on their side. Church is an oasis of grace in a world of grief. Come on in and take a load off. I know I am the Pastor, but it shouldn't just be my perspective. I'm glad to be back with you.

A great investment tip, for real

  I have to say that maintaining a blog is a little harder than you may think. Try it and when you do, let me know so I can follow you. Anyway, the last two weeks have been crazy. I am an only child and my parents have moved yet again, so my family and I needed to provide packing and unpacking services. That was the week before this one. This week has been a totally different story. For the seventh consecutive year, I am at the Wilds, a Christian camp and conference center in North Carolina. No one does camp like they do and I have been blessed as a sponsor every year.

As I have sat in the services and seen the great responses to the preaching, I could not help but think of a conversation I had this week with another sponsor. Interestingly enough, I am nearly 600 miles from home and I was able to make a connection. Our conversation turned to a mutual "acquaintance", a church that we each had an attachment to. This church does not promote any type of youth ministry. That is odd in and of itself, but what astounded me is the fact that they run a Christian school from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. That would have to be labeled the extreme end of the discussion of youth ministry...none. Well, as many of you know, most of my years in ministry have been as a youth pastor, and even now I tell my folks, "I will always be a youth pastor to some extent." I love young people. I love being around them and working with them. I love their energy. I love their enthusiasm (if you can find it). I love their perspective. Why would you not want to have a ministry to and for young people? I am sure that the vast majority of parents have provided education, food, and clothing for their children at the child's learning/age level. I am also sure of the provision of specialized medical care for that age group in pediatricians and pediatric dentists. I surely hope that entertainment has been provided in an age-appropriate manner, as well. So why not ministry? There are so many options: Sunday school, children's church, youth group, Bible clubs, retreats, camps, fellowship meetings, seminars, and youth revivals. We have several families at Franklin that have joined our congregation by much prayer, but brought in by our emphasis on youth. Can I tell you that you can not go wrong investing your time, energy and resources, or your church's time, energy, and resources into the life of a young person. I am talking about the best of every world here. There is instant gratification as you look into the face of, not just a child, but a teenager too, and say, "I love you and I am so proud of you." There is a hope that you can not explain and a future that you'll never be able to predict, just from ministering to a young person. There is a dividend that only eternity will reveal as your effort is multiplied by its repetition in countless more lives.

If you attend a church without a vision for young people, you need to ask the Lord how you can change that. Churches are already drying and dying from lack of vision and attendance. If you are not infusing new life, young life, into your church, eventually it will go that way. I love being the Pastor of Franklin Baptist Church, but from my Perspective, I will always be part youth pastor, investing in their lives.

Camp Meeting...Old School

Yes it has been a week since my last post. Please accept my apologies. I do appreciate your interest and I hope I did not discourage anyone from checking back regularly. This past week was Camp Meeting at the Eastern Pennsylvania Baptist Fellowship campgrounds. It was a week of great preaching, singing, eating, and fellowshipping in a setting that is a bit of a throw-back to days gone by, including the main preacher for the week, Dr. Tolbert Moore, Pastor Emeritus of the Galilean Baptist Church of Lawrenceville, Georgia.  This is no disparaging comment made to disrespect the age of this esteemed man of God, but at 83 years old, he certainly is a different breed of preacher than that we are accustomed to in this day. And I am thankful for it. Our day lacks the spiritual and scriptural insight of anointed preachers who would not withhold the truth of God's word in an effort to build a name for them self and/or a following for their ministry. We have traded the no-nonsense exposition of the Bible with its practical application, for a warm, buttery, watered-down sample of self-help advise tainted with half of a Bible verse to add a religious spin. We have lost the desire for real improvement in our life, satisfied to feel good about us as we dress up, carry our Bible, and go off to church for Sunday morning service. Dr. Moore's kind of preaching is not only appropriate in this setting, reminding us of the days of Billy Sunday as he would challenge people to "hit the sawdust trail", but necessary in every setting where people are gathered to hear the word of God preached. It is certainly especially enjoyable under the old time tabernacle, but it truly belongs in our pulpits. I am challenged in my spirit to strive to keep the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as the central theme of my preaching, to keep the main thing the main thing, knowing that is where these great men of God received their power and influence. Romans 1:16 tells us that the gospel is the "power of God, unto salvation".

I am not paying lip service to a man or men. I am confessing the truth of the adage, "There's no school like the old school."  Sadly, these men are fewer and fewer. Born and raised in a day where life was simple and character mattered, they are fading from view regularly. There just aren't many left and I want to glean all that I can from those that remain because what they have to offer is not just valuable, it's priceless. So I thank God for, not just the blessings of His presence in our meetings this past week, and it was sweet, but also for the presence of the man of God, Dr. Tolbert Moore, with nearly 70 years of ministry behind him; years of study, prayer, service, and a lot of funny stories. When I grow up, I would be glad to be just like him. But that's just my Perspective.